Light from compact sources is currently used in lighting elements for displays and also for projection applications. The smallest possible sources with the highest possible luminous intensities are desired. These result in large power densities per given source volume. Efficiency being finite, waste heat always arises during operation of such a light source. This waste heat has to be dissipated for example by way of the housing of the light source. Due to their excellent characteristics such as for instance good collimatability, use of lasers in lighting sources is very widespread. Semiconductor lasers or solid-state lasers pumped with semiconductor elements are widely used due to their frequently compact structure and ease of handling. If different-coloured laser light sources, in particular red, green and blue, are combined, “RGB modules” appropriate for many applications may also be produced. With RGB modules a plurality of colour impressions may also be generated, inter alia also white light. Laser light sources generally make higher demands as regards the temperature control or temperature stability of their housing than other light sources. Lasers are also often sensitive to moisture, dust or mechanical impact, and moreover require a stable platform for instance for the mounting of optical systems or other components such as electronic circuits. The space requirement for the light source needs to be small in such cases, in order to ensure a versatile range of uses. Despite these complex requirements, the manufacturing costs for a light source need to be as low as possible, which means inter alia that the structure of the source needs to be as simple as possible.